Sheil Kapadia

Philly.com

The Eagles announced Wednesday morning that they've brought Joselio Hanson back and parted ways with 2010 fourth-round pick Trevard Lindley.

Just four days ago, they released Hanson.

All along, there was no question that Hanson was a good fit here in the slot. According to Football Outsiders, he was targeted 46 times last season and allowed 4.4 yards per attempt. That ranked second among cornerbacks with at least 40 targets, behind only Minnesota's Antoine Winfield (4.2 YPA). Asante Samuel led all corners with 3.2 YPA, but he was only targeted 36 times.

Hanson also limited receivers to 1.5 YAC, which was tops in the NFL.

According to Pro Football Focus, he was on the field for about 66 percent of the team's defensive snaps. Considering the Eagles added Nnamdi Asomugha and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie in the offseason, that number will dip. However, it's worth noting that the Eagles worked on their dime package (4 CBs, 2 safeties, 1 LB) quite a bit in the preseason. Hanson will likely play in that package, and he can step in and play the slot effectively if one of the top three corners goes down.

The initial issue with releasing Hanson seemed to be that he carried a cap hit of $2.4M for 2011. The terms of his new deal have not yet been released, so we'll have to wait and see what the new number is.

As for Lindley, aside from Week 17 against Dallas when the starters sat, he saw significant snaps in four games last year: against the 49ers, Bears, Texans and Cowboys. The Chicago game was a nightmare for Lindley, but he improved in subsequent games against Houston and Dallas.

Coaches and players always talk about the leap from Year 1 to Year 2, but Lindley didn't get to put much work in with the coaches because of his shortened offseason. That obviously hurt him, as did the additions of Asomugha and Rodgers-Cromartie, the selection of Curtis Marsh and the development of Brandon Hughes.

Howie Roseman drafted 24 players in his first two seasons as the Eagles' GM. With the Lindley release, 17 of those picks are now still with the team. The seven players who are gone are: Daniel Te'o-Nesheim, Lindley, Ricky Sapp, Charles Scott and Jeff Owens from last year's class, along with Stanley Havili and Greg Lloyd from this year's class.

Lindley is not eligible for the practice squad because he was active for 11 games last year.

The Eagles currently have six cornerbacks on their roster: Asante Samuel, Asomugha, Rodgers-Cromartie, Hanson, Hughes and Marsh.